Tuesday, 5 May 2015

Why the President-Elect, Gen. Buhari Must Save Our Youths?

I will like to join other patriotic and
well-meaning Nigerians in congratulating you and wishing you a very
successful Presidency. Your victory is auspicious, comforting and
reassuring and leads me to believe that we have been given a real
opportunity to start nation-building in earnest. Hitherto, the country
had been in a free fall and our youths were set to inherit a downward
spiralling nation. Sadly and even more alarming, they were also destined
to inherit the profligate values and mindsets that got us to this
point. Not only is this situation egregious, it is unacceptable.

Our youths are our most valuable and
precious resources, yet, we have thrown them under the bus. Instead of
bestowing them a country making great strides in progress and
development, for the betterment of all and instilling in them core
values necessary for nation-building, thereby preparing them to take the
country to the next level, they have been left adrift in a rudderless
ship. Anything short of seeking and adopting expeditious solutions to
reverse the trend would perpetuate the breach of a sacred trust. Our
youths have been entrusted to us and we have to secure and safeguard
their futures. Let us “stop the rot” and save our children. The
alternative is that they will become so dehumanised and callous and
their actions in later years would be far worse than their forebears.
The situation is chronic, dire and mind-chilling and there are no
credible policies or programmes in sight to ameliorate matters. Up till
now, our leaders have proved time and again that their power is akin to
that of an F-5 tornado, packing noisy, deadly winds and leaving little
life in its wake. Your administration is the last hope and final bus
stop of the entity called Nigeria unless meaningful change occurs.

While we wish the new administration well
and have rekindled hope that change is possible, the truth of the
matter is that superficial, cosmetic changes may occur in the short or
medium term, whereas nothing short of a total nationwide re- orientation
is needed that will go to the crux of the problem. There needs to be a
compete dismantling of the destructive mindsets and attitudes, which
have crystallised into an institutionalised culture of unpatriotic
actions .This has to be addressed, in tandem with the good governance we
are confident you will deliver to the Nigerian people as I have no
doubt of your bona fides. However, there is no magic formula to adapt to
“stop the rot,” which has been allowed to fester for 50 plus years and
despite the best intentions, it is impossible to walk on water. It is
for this reason that I make bold to say that the strategy to bring about
change must adopt a multi-pronged approach. We need to positively
indoctrinate our youths, because change has to also come from the bottom
up. It is imperative that we inculcate in our children their
responsibilities as stakeholders in and stewardship of Nigeria, to
replace the present narcissistic culture which has been their
unfortunate lot to imbibe and to eventually emulate. We have to give
them the opportunity to become invested in the land and to bond with
Nigeria on a level that plumbs the deepest depth of their souls and
psyches. We have to teach them to love, care for and nurture their
motherland, Nigeria.

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Since
the commercialisation of our petroleum resources in the mid 80’s, the
vast majority of our youths have only known a petroleum economy, with
our national coffers being funded overwhelmingly by our oil revenues, to
the detriment of other areas of revenue generation. Oil deposits have
nothing to do with human planning, effort or design and are far removed
from most urban and rural populations. Land with actual or suspected oil
rich deposits is treated with little respect or regard in the
exploration and production processes. Furthermore, extraction methods
used on or offshore, involve extreme aggression and force in order to
lift the product and result in causing collateral damage to surrounding
areas. The industry is responsible for the irreparable destruction of
fertile, productive land and pollution of rivers and water ways, which
ultimately leads to the degradation of entire ecosystems that can no
longer sustain human, plant, animal or marine life. This in turn
ferments dissatisfaction, unrest and militancy in the affected
communities. It is a violent way to exploit resources, with long term
ominous repercussions. The culmination of the foregoing is that our
motherland is seen as nothing more than a “cash cow” locked up in a
distant shed, deserving only of being viciously exploited until she dies
a premature death as a result. Our youths have not learnt to love
Nigeria and our petroleum resources have been called “the curse of
Nigeria” with good reason. It is a totally loveless endeavour, that
causes mayhem and catastrophe at both ends of the industry.

Contrast this activity with agriculture.
Agriculture engenders immediate and long term bonding with the land. The
land is looked on with the kind of love reserved for family members and
very close intimates and is treated accordingly. Therefore, the
relationship with the land would be one involving care, nurture and
respect. The processes involved in working the land from the planning to
the production stages of a successful harvest, strengthen the bonds
further. It is a scientific fact that most of the minerals found in soil
are also present in the human body. These include zinc, calcium,
nickel, vanadium, silicon, boron, Iron, manganese, selenium, chromium,
phosphorous, iodine, copper, potassium sodium, cobalt and lithium, to
mention a few. This tells me that there is a nexus between humans and
the earth, which in the case of a person’s motherland is stronger, under
normal circumstances. This is what causes people to serve, protect and
in some cases sacrifice themselves for their country. That is why
certain countries are great today. We, and in particular our youths are
out of touch, out of step and out of sync with Nigeria, our motherland.

Metaphysics aside, there are also
pragmatic and urgent reasons to prepare our youths to catapult this
nation to agricultural superstardom. In the first instance, the core
character forming values which are the bedrock of nation-building, can
be learnt and embraced through agriculture; values and behaviours which
include, hard work, discipline, good judgment, investment of time and
resources, responsibility, commitment, tenacity and work based rewards,
to mention a few. Once assimilated, these life skills, which are lacking
in our youths, are readily transferable and adaptable to other spheres
of human endeavour. Secondly, there is a growing consensus among
international experts in the energy sector that we are past the peak of
world oil production and are now contending with depleting oil fields.
The International Energy Agency in Paris, France officially stated that
there is an annual 6.7 per cent decline rate of mature oil fields, which
will increase to 8.6 per cent by 2030. Their world energy outlook
report further stated the following, “…it is within the power of all
governments, of producing and consuming countries alike, acting alone or
together, to steer the world towards a cleaner, cleverer and more
competitive energy system. Time is running out and the time to act is
now.” The death knell of our oil industry has been sounded. Let us take
heed!